DepEd assures monitoring of vaccinated students
Published Feb 12, 2018 05:06 pm
By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday reiterated that public elementary schools nationwide have already been directed to monitor students who have been administered with the Dengvaxia vaccine.
(ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN)
Following the recommendation of Senator Win Gatchalian for DepEd to “create a circular that will mandate all public schools to initiate a program to identify and monitor students who were immunized with Dengvaxia,” the agency noted that they already issued a memorandum on monitoring affected students.
As early as December, Education Sectary Leonor Briones issued DepEd Memorandum No. 199, series 2017 (DM 199) or the “Monitoring and Surveillance of Learners who have been Administered with Dengvaxia Vaccine” in an effort “to help allay fears of parents of children who have been immunized with Sanofi Pasteur’s dengue vaccine.”
In the said memo, Briones noted that the DepEd, along with the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Local and Interior Government (DILG – through the local government units (LGUs) – are jointly implementing a “strong monitoring and surveillance system” to ensure the condition of learners in the National Capital Region (NCR), Regions 3 and 4A, and 7 who received the vaccine.
The schools in Regions III, IV-A and NCR, Briones said, are “enjoined to review the master list of learners given the dengue vaccines (regardless of the number of doses), and flag these children for very close monitoring for any symptoms of fever and initiate the referral report when necessary.”
Briones said that while focus is on the four regions that piloted the DOH program, “other regions who did not implement the School-Based Dengue Vaccine Program are likewise advised to conduct an assessment from among the nine-year-old and above learners of Grades 4-6, who might have been vaccinated by private practitioners and community-based vaccination done in NCR communities and Cebu Province of Region VII and flag these children for close monitoring also.”
DepEd’s DM 199 also stressed the involvement of parents and teachers which is also crucial in facilitating the strengthened monitoring and surveillance system. “They may help by reporting cases of vaccinated students with fever to the text line that DOH will set up,” DepEd said.
DepEd noted that health workers of rural health units (RHUs) shall act on these text reports. Furthermore, parents are encouraged to participate in forums on the vaccine program and information drive against dengue in the community, which will be conducted by schools and trained health coordinators.
Briones also directed school administrators “to strictly adhere to the 4S Strategy and the provisions of DM 152, s. 2011, or Preventing Dengue in Schools, to ensure the regular conduct of vector control measures to eliminate mosquitoes in the school environment.”
Gatchalian, a member of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said that many parents are worried about the health and safety of their children who were vaccinated with Dengvaxia. “In the meantime, if DepEd will mandate the monitoring of students who were immunized, it will surely help put parents at ease,” he ended.
(ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN)
Following the recommendation of Senator Win Gatchalian for DepEd to “create a circular that will mandate all public schools to initiate a program to identify and monitor students who were immunized with Dengvaxia,” the agency noted that they already issued a memorandum on monitoring affected students.
As early as December, Education Sectary Leonor Briones issued DepEd Memorandum No. 199, series 2017 (DM 199) or the “Monitoring and Surveillance of Learners who have been Administered with Dengvaxia Vaccine” in an effort “to help allay fears of parents of children who have been immunized with Sanofi Pasteur’s dengue vaccine.”
In the said memo, Briones noted that the DepEd, along with the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Local and Interior Government (DILG – through the local government units (LGUs) – are jointly implementing a “strong monitoring and surveillance system” to ensure the condition of learners in the National Capital Region (NCR), Regions 3 and 4A, and 7 who received the vaccine.
The schools in Regions III, IV-A and NCR, Briones said, are “enjoined to review the master list of learners given the dengue vaccines (regardless of the number of doses), and flag these children for very close monitoring for any symptoms of fever and initiate the referral report when necessary.”
Briones said that while focus is on the four regions that piloted the DOH program, “other regions who did not implement the School-Based Dengue Vaccine Program are likewise advised to conduct an assessment from among the nine-year-old and above learners of Grades 4-6, who might have been vaccinated by private practitioners and community-based vaccination done in NCR communities and Cebu Province of Region VII and flag these children for close monitoring also.”
DepEd’s DM 199 also stressed the involvement of parents and teachers which is also crucial in facilitating the strengthened monitoring and surveillance system. “They may help by reporting cases of vaccinated students with fever to the text line that DOH will set up,” DepEd said.
DepEd noted that health workers of rural health units (RHUs) shall act on these text reports. Furthermore, parents are encouraged to participate in forums on the vaccine program and information drive against dengue in the community, which will be conducted by schools and trained health coordinators.
Briones also directed school administrators “to strictly adhere to the 4S Strategy and the provisions of DM 152, s. 2011, or Preventing Dengue in Schools, to ensure the regular conduct of vector control measures to eliminate mosquitoes in the school environment.”
Gatchalian, a member of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said that many parents are worried about the health and safety of their children who were vaccinated with Dengvaxia. “In the meantime, if DepEd will mandate the monitoring of students who were immunized, it will surely help put parents at ease,” he ended.